A breakthrough study has identified a set of 10 proteins in the blood that can predict the onset of Alzheimer’s. This is a game-changer because it puts researchers one step closer to developing a test for the disease.

British scientists studied a pool of over 1,000 participants, where the newly-discovered set of proteins pinpointed the start of dementia with 87 percent accuracy. This is significant news. Until now, drug treatments have been difficult to develop because by the time it is administered in clinical trials the disease has already progressed too far.

The hope is that these proteins will make it easier to diagnose the disease in its early stages--giving researchers the opportunity to determine new treatment that could stop its progression.

"Alzheimer's begins to affect the brain many years before patients are diagnosed [and] many of our drug trials fail because by the time patients are given the drugs the brain has already been too severely affected," said Simon Lovestone of Oxford University, who led this work from King's College London.

"A simple blood test could help us identify patients at a much earlier stage to take part in new trials and hopefully develop treatments," he added.

For this study, co-authored by biotech company Proteome Sciences and scientists from King’s College, the blood samples from 1,148 people were examined. Of that number, 476 had Alzheimer’s, 220 had mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and 452 were dementia free. Each participant was analyzed for 26 proteins previously linked to the brain disease. It was during the second round of testing that researchers found the 10 proteins that were able to determine which individuals with MCI would develop Alzheimer’s within a year.

“Memory problems are very common, but the challenge is identifying who is likely to develop dementia,” said lead study author Dr. Abdul Hye from the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College London in a statement. “There are thousands of proteins in the blood, and this study is the culmination of many years’ work identifying which ones are clinically relevant."

While this study has made a major advance, James Pickett, head of research at the Alzheimer's Society, said the data “does not mean that a blood test for dementia is just around the corner.”

“These 10 proteins can predict conversion to dementia with less than 90 percent accuracy, meaning one in 10 people would get an incorrect result," he stated. “Accuracy would need to be improved before it could be a useful diagnostic test.”

Currently, Alzheimer’s, a brain-wasting disease, is the most common form of dementia. It affects at least 35.6 million people across the globe and according the World Health Organization, there are 7.7 million new cases every year.